Getting in touch with the masculine side

This will be the fourth year Greg Robinson has packed up his car and headed bush to spend the weekend with an assembly of men. He will recognise some of these men, but many will be strangers. By the end of the weekend though, Mr Robinson will count some of these men among his most intimate friends. This is because they will all have one thing in common. They will have all participated in an event called Manshine.

“It's a place we can come and just be who we are,” he says. “There's a real need for these kinds of men's events – I'd say that need is growing.”

In fact Manshine, an annual men's gathering on the Sunshine Coast, is part of a men's wellbeing movement now in its 12th year. The Men's Health and Wellbeing Association of Queensland is an incorporated, not-for-profit association that predates the contemporarily popular Men's Shed movement of which Prime Minister Julia Gillard's partner Tim Mathieson is patron.

Through their program of events, MHWAQ aims to promote positive mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health for men. So while it may be common to consider today's men are the ones dealing with masculinity crisis, Mr Robinson says there's been a need for positive male space for a lot longer.

“The association provides avenues to be able to share in a safe sort of environment where there's no judgment,” he says. “[At Manshine] I can say what I need to say – and somehow by airing and sharing issues, they're a lot easier to live with.

Mr Robinson says participants this weekend will representative of the diversity in modern Australian masculinity, with men of various ages, backgrounds and religious, sexual or political persuasion present. He says they come for many reasons, which may be as simple as just having a laugh or sharing a meal with friendly male strangers. Strangers who, for a change, weren't defined by what they did for work, or their relationship, but just simply the idea they were "man".

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“I could be sitting down, and we could be talking about anything, and I could have a doctor or an engineer or a blue collar worker sitting next to me and we don't even know, but we're sharing what we're talking about,” Mr Robinson says. “You can be yourself.”

Helping the process along is a range of talks on diverse subjects. 'Intimacy and Conscious Sexuality' explores notions of goddess energy and letting go of ego, 'Conducting Difficult Conversations' focuses on expressing of tricky topics, and 'Celebration of Man' encourages men to dance with one another around the subjects of passion, rage, intimacy, sexuality, and unique physical beauty.

Manshine isn't just about talking with strangers. Mr Robinson says a program of workshops designed to promote growth, respect and trust were on offer, this year centred on the theme 'Release, Renew, Rejoice'. Participants are invited to join in a range of relevant, hands-on activities including morning yoga, didgeridoo lessons, archery, and classes in meditation to help rediscover their masculinity.

“But there are a lot of reasons people come [to Manshine],” Mr Robinson says. “It provides an opportunity for people to connect with other people and it's not around drinking beer and talking about sport and doing what normally what men seem to get together to do.

“Also a lot of us live in the city and there's a lot of lonely people around – sometimes its good just get out bush for a weekend and make some new mates.”

Manshine takes place this long weekend at the Ewen Maddock Dam Recreation Centre, Sunshine Coast Hinterland. More information about the event, or related programs, can be found via the Men's Health and Wellbeing Association of Queensland website.